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Possible Temp drop.

The electric/power in my house went off twice today whilst I was sleeping, and obviously the heat & lights wouldíve gone off as well. A few hours for the first outage, and about five minutes on second outage. I donít know how much the temp did drop so I just wanted to know:
How long can BPs withstand low temps?

Re: Possible Temp drop.

It depends what kind of "low temps" you're talking about. There's quite a difference between 60 degrees and 10 degrees.

Given the fact that your outage was only for a few hours, I wouldn't worry too much. However, the last thing you want to do is open your enclosure during such an outage. You retain heat by keeping everything closed. There are keepers who have backup generators for such an occasion and I have heard of people using hand warmer packs as well for such an event.

Re: Possible Temp drop.

Originally Posted by KevinK

It depends what kind of "low temps" you're talking about. There's quite a difference between 60 degrees and 10 degrees.

Given the fact that your outage was only for a few hours, I wouldn't worry too much. However, the last thing you want to do is open your enclosure during such an outage. You retain heat by keeping everything closed. There are keepers who have backup generators for such an occasion and I have heard of people using hand warmer packs as well for such an event.

What about hot water bottles?
Donít know wether Iíd actually be able to use a generator. And donít know about using hand warmers as would think thereís stuff in them that could cause harm.

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Re: Possible Temp drop.

Originally Posted by KevinK

It depends what kind of "low temps" you're talking about. There's quite a difference between 60 degrees and 10 degrees.

Given the fact that your outage was only for a few hours, I wouldn't worry too much. However, the last thing you want to do is open your enclosure during such an outage. You retain heat by keeping everything closed. There are keepers who have backup generators for such an occasion and I have heard of people using hand warmer packs as well for such an event.

& I wouldnít now far it had dropped as I was sleeping. By the time Iíd woke up everything was normal. (temp wise)

Re: Possible Temp drop.

If it's not something you've actually monitored I don't know what to say.

Does this happen often?

If your power goes out temporarily and you run an oil heater (which stays warm for several hours after it shuts off) I'm not sure you need to be worried about anything. If your power goes out every other day for long periods of time, then I'd consider a generator. Information is everything here, if you want answers to a specific solution, you need to be specific about your problem.

A few minutes or a few hours won't hurt anything. It takes a while for much to change (depending on how cold it is outside & how insulated your home is).

But...winter power outages can be deadly for our pets if you're not prepared. Ice or snowstorms can cause loss of power for days, even weeks, in some areas, & it's
best to be prepared.

I went thru an extended power outage here back in 2009, "only" 4 days (that felt like an eternity) while many outside our town lost it for weeks, from a large ice storm
that toppled trees, making road clearing difficult & greatly extending the time it took to repair downed power lines. Some people with many snakes "lost" them, either
directly or from illness, because they had no generator back-up & no preparations.

Incidentally, the heat packs ('hand-warmers') are safe to use (nothing leaks, normally) & are similar to those used in shipping snakes. You need to make sure
a snake doesn't contact them directly though, as they can get too hot. (wrap them)

I don't have a generator either, only a gas-log fireplace, & a gas-fired water heater (so I had hot water). I had on hand multiple ice chests. I bagged all my snakes
individually (pillow cases work fine, or cloth 'snake bags'), then put 1 to 3 snakes in each ice chest (so they weren't crowded, depending on size & compatibility), along
with 1 or 2 large jars filled w/ hot water (at the time I had no heat packs either). I had to replace the hot water every 8-9 hours to keep them a balmy 80-82*, but
they were absolutely FINE thru the entire nightmare & stayed healthy. Heck, they didn't even seemed stressed about the whole thing, not like me. So I'd
recommend you consider such a back-up plan...no way to know how long power may be out.

Re: Possible Temp drop.

Originally Posted by KevinK

If it's not something you've actually monitored I don't know what to say.

Does this happen often?

If your power goes out temporarily and you run an oil heater (which stays warm for several hours after it shuts off) I'm not sure you need to be worried about anything. If your power goes out every other day for long periods of time, then I'd consider a generator. Information is everything here, if you want answers to a specific solution, you need to be specific about your problem.

No doesnít go off often at all. But, itís went off twice today & once yesterday. Which is not normal.